Fetch!
In my life, I have owned three dogs, and been a part of two others’ lives.
Lady was the only dog who played “ball,” but she didn’t retrieve very well– she’d run off and grab whatever you threw, but she would not bring it back to be thrown again, and would instead run around with it, and then chew it, and play tug of war, but she would not bring it back, drop it, and wait for you to throw it again.
I’ve had four cats. Of these, none have been big “play” kitties, once out of kittenhood. Except for the Cat Dancer toy, which seems to be a hit with every cat everywhere.
Alladin fetches. I swear to god, he fetches. I throw a mousie, he runs and attacks it, then picks it up in his kitten-sharp mouth and brings it back, drops it next to my feet, so I can throw it again.
He does this with the mousies. With the “cat jacks” (they’re little plastic things that he likes to play with). With the feathery-wand toys (he likes to pick them up and carry them with the plastic wand pointing forward– I don’t know why).
Throw. Run-pounce-tackle. Bring back toy. Drop toy. Repeat as necessary.
On Monday night while I was upgrading to OSX 10.3, we played fetch during the upgrade. I think he was in kitten heaven– an HOUR of fetch.
I don’t think I’ve ever known a kitten who could stay attached to ANY activity for a whole hour.
Oh, and he now outweighs Allegro, who at last weigh-in was 12.5 lbs. His head hasn’t changed into the “adult cat” shape just yet– it’s still in that weird adolescent cat form, where it’s part kitten, part cat. But getting there.
rahaeli wrote:
My cat does that too! He plays fetch with hair ties, though. I can’t leave a hair tie out, or else he’ll come steal it and then demand I play with him.
The irritating thing is that he brings it back, puts it JUST out of my reach, and then SWIPES AT ME WHEN I REACH FOR IT. Cats, man.
Posted on 27-Apr-05 at 9:28 am | Permalink
nea852 wrote:
Both my cats like to play with the fluffy toys on the end of a string attached to a stick (like a cat fishing pole). I’ll flutter it about and they will attack until it’s caught. Then we play tug-o-war over it and I’ll let them win. They drag their prey off a little distance and bat and poke at it. When they realize it isn’t going to play by itself they drag it back over for me to pick up and start the process again.
Sometimes one of them will get the toy in their jaws and drag it away with the stick part trailing behind them, then the other will pounce and chase the moving stick. So they end up playing with each other. Soooo cute.
Posted on 27-Apr-05 at 10:02 am | Permalink
halfawake wrote:
A cat fetching? Now that would be a sight to see.
Posted on 27-Apr-05 at 10:06 am | Permalink
melia wrote:
My cat fetches too! The only thing he will fetch is one of those sticks with feathers or a ribbon at the end. I never thought cats could fetch until we got him.
Posted on 27-Apr-05 at 12:30 pm | Permalink
slamlander wrote:
None of the cats I ever new could remember what they were doing for more than 5 seconds. My last one was a particular ditz.
Posted on 27-Apr-05 at 6:55 pm | Permalink